The Dance: an Annabeth POV story
by Wise.fan.Girl15
Summary: The dance from The Titan's Curse in Annabeth's point of view.


**A/N: Hey guys! Here is another Annabeth POV story. This is from** ** _The Titan's Curse_** **-it's the bit where the gang are finding Nico and Bianca.**

The doors behind us slammed shut with a loud noise that echoed through the quiet, empty hallway.

"Oo-kay," Percy muttered. "Guess we'll stay awhile."

I could hear dance music coming from far away-the end of the hall, most likely. That must be where the dance is, I thought to myself.

We all put our bags behind a pillar, and had only walked a little ways down the hall when a man and a woman walked authoritatively toward us, their footsteps echoing on the hard stone floor.

Both the man and the woman had short gray hair and crisp, black and red military uniforms. They walked stiffly.

"Well?" The woman demanded. Now that she was closer, I could see the wispy mustache that adorned her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Um…" Percy started. I inwardly cursed, wondering how I could have been so stupid as to not think this far ahead.

"Ma'am, we're just-" Percy tried, but was cut off by the severe-looking man.

"Ha!" he snapped, making Percy jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be _eee-jected_!"

He had a French accent, clearly. He was tall, which contributed to his overall intimidation. Strangely, he had one brown eye, and one blue eye.

I nudged Thalia, and subtly signaled for her to do her little "magic" trick.

She stepped forward and snapped her fingers. Wind surged from her hand,

flowing across the hall. The banners on the wall rustled.

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," she said convincingly. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth and Percy. We're in the eighth grade."

The man peered at us suspiciously. I did my best to look innocent and wished Percy would do the same-he was staring at the man, and his face had a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

The man turned to his female companion. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

She blinked, as if waking up from a dream. "I…yes. I believe I do, sir." She turned to us, a frown visible under her mustache. "Annabeth. Thalia. Percy. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

I was a about to make up a (hopefully) believable story when Grover ran up to us, panting for breath. "You made it!" he exclaimed. "You-" he stopped, seeing the teachers. "Oh, Ms. Gottschalk. Doctor Thorn! I, uh-"

"What _is_ it, Mr. Underwood?" asked Dr. Thorn in a tone that was both hateful and exasperated. "what do you mean, they made it? These students _live_ here."

Grover swallowed nervously. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant, I'm so glad the made…the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"

Dr. Thorn glared at each one of us in turn. I was worried he would throw us out (or worse), but Ms. Gottschalk said, "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

We all scurried off, saying "Yes, ma'am" and "Yes, sir" and saluting because it seemed appropriate.

Grover hurried us along toward the gymnasium. I could tell the teachers were still watching us, but I didn't dare look back at them. Percy was walking close to Thalia, probably asking her about her trick with the Mist.

We finally reached the gym and were out of sight of the teachers.

"That was close!" Grover said. "Thank the gods you got here!"

Thalia and I hugged him. Percy gave him a high five. Typical boys.

"So, what's the emergency?" Percy asked.

"I found two."

"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked in amazement. "Here?"

Grover nodded. "A brother and a sister," he said. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

"Monsters?"

"One." Grover was nervous again. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

Desperate, Grover looked at at Thalia for help. I notice Percy looked annoyed, probably because Grover was turning to Thalia for answers instead of him. I promised myself I'd talk to him later, but I had bigger problems to worry about right now.

"Right," Thalia said. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance," she said. "Who's the monster?"

"Oh," Grover said, looking around nervously. "You just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn."

The gym was totally decked out with black and red balloons and streamers. The boys were kicking the balloons in each other's faces and trying to strangle each other with the streamers while the girls, who were all wearing really high heels, bright pants, thin-strapped shirts, and masks of makeup moved around the gym in a gaggle, attacking unfortunate boys.

Grover nodded toward two younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "There they are. Bianca and Nico di Angelo."

The girl was wearing a floppy green cap that partially hid her face. They were quite obviously brother and sister; they both had silky dark hair and olive skin, and were both using their hands as they talked, marking them as Italian. The girl was scolding the boy, who was playing with some sort of card game. The girl was looking around as if she knew she was being watched.

"Do they…I mean, have you told them?" I asked.

"You know how it is," Grover replied, shaking his head. "That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger." He looked at Percy, who nodded and said, "So let's grab them and get out of here."

He started to walk toward the kids, but Thalia stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Dr. Thorn was now standing near the di Angelos. He clearly had not been fooled by Thalia's Mist trick. This was not good.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia told us. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."

"How?"

"We're three powerful half-bloods Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids."

"Dancing?" I asked, both nervous and excited.

Thalia nodded, then made a face. "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"

"I did," Grover said, clearly hurt.

"Oh my gods Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"

"Green who?"

"Never mind. Let's dance."

"But I can't dance!"

"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said firmly. "Come on, goat boy."

Thalia yanked him onto the dance floor. I smiled. Whether she knew it or not, Thalia had put me in just the situation I'd hoped for.

"What?" Percy asked, seeing my smile.

"Nothing. It's just cool to have Thalia back," I said, partially as an excuse, partially because it was true.

I pulled my ski cap off, allowing my long blond hair to fall around my face.

"So…" Percy said, rather awkwardly. "Um, design any good buildings lately?"

I got all excited, as I always do when someone mentions architecture. "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program…" I started explaining this huge monument I'd designed and how I wanted to build it at Ground Zero in Manhattan. I was vaguely aware that I was babbling on about structural supports and facades, but hey, I was super nervous. Plus, once you got me started talking about something I loved, it was almost impossible to get me to stop.

"Yeah, uh, cool," Percy said; obviously, he had no idea what I was saying. "So you're staying there the rest of the year, huh?"

I scowled. "Well, maybe, if I don't-"

"Hey!" Thalia said, cutting off the rest of my sentence. She and Grover were slow dancing, or at least attempting to. Grover was tripping over his fake feet and looking miserable.

"Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there."

My stomach filled with butterflies.

Percy nervously looked at me, then at the girls fluttering around the gym. Oh, come on, I thought. Must I do everything?

"Well?" I said.

"Um, who should i ask?"

Oh, gods, he's such an idiot. I punched his stomach. " _Me_ , Seaweed Brain."

"Oh. Oh, right." Geez.

We walked onto the dance floor together, and Percy looked and Grover and Thalia before putting one hand on my hip while I held his other hand.

"I'm not going to bite," I informed him. "Honestly, Percy. Don't you guys have dances at your school?"

He didn't answer. He kept stepping on my toes, and his hands were sweaty, but I didn't care one bit.

"What were you saying earlier?" he asked. "Are you having trouble at school or something?"

"It's not that." I pursed my lips. "It's my dad."

"Uh-oh. I thought it was getting better with you two. Is it your stepmom again?"

I sighed. "He decided to move. Just when I was getting settled in New York, he took this stupid new job researching for a World War I book. In _San Francisco_ ," I finished with disgust.

"So he wants you to live out there with him?"

"To the other side of the country," I said. "And half-bloods can't live in San Francisco. He should know that."  
"What? Why not?" Percy asked.

"You know. It's right _there_." Did he know nothing?

"Oh. So…you'll go back to living at camp or what?"

"It's more serious than that, Percy. I…I should probably tell you something." Over Percy's shoulder, I could see the bleachers where the di Angelo kids had been-but they weren't there! "They're gone."

 **A/N: Please let me know what you think!**


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